Improvement in refrigerators



W. STEWART. REFRIGERATOR.

Patenfied. J'an.16, 1877.

I No. 186,376.

fitnesses 1 i v e nto r- HIST-5R8. FHOTO-LITHOGRIPHER. WASHINGTON- l C.

ED STATES PATENT Orrron.

JOHN w. STEWART, or s N FRAivoIsoo, oALIFoRNIA. A

IMPROVEMENTIN REFRIGERATORS}.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,376, dated January16,-l877; application filed June 21, 1876. A A p To all whom it mayconcern.- A

Be it known that I, JOHN W. STEWART, of

San Francisco city and county,StateofGa1i- ,fornia, have invented;certain new andkuseful Improvements in Refrigerators; and Ido here-:. bydeclare the following description and ac-f; companying drawings aresufficient toienable any person skilledin the art or science to whicharticles as fruits, vegetables, meats, 8w.

My improvement consists in the combination of an ice-chamber with amainrefrigerat ing-chamber, and oneor more surrounding chambers orpassagespin such a manner that an automatic circulation of cold air willbe maintained through the chambers and passages, the temperature ofwhich will vary according to the distance the passage is situated fromthe main refrigerating-chamber, all as hereinafter described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings. let Arepresent ahouse, room,car, or other structure in which it is intended to place perish ablearticles for preservation. Inside of this structure is acentralcompartment, B, the sides of which extend upward to near the topof the house or room A, while their lower ends are perforated or cutaway, as shown, so as to providea passage underneath them. 111-.

side of this chamber, and near its upper end, 1 construct an inclinedfloor or horizontal partition, which is made of alternate concave andconvex plates or boards 1 01. These plates are placed so that theiredges overlap, as shown at Fig. 2, and a space being left between theoverlapping edges, for the purpose hereinafter described. This floordivides the compartment B into an upper and lower compartment, the uppercompartment forming the ice chest or chamber, while the lowercompartment forms the main refrigerating-chamber, The ice-chest is againdivided vertically by two partitions, E E, which are placed at a shortdistance apart near the middle of the chamber. These partitions are madeof slats placed "at an angle, so as to overlap eachother. The spaces oneach sideof the partitions E E serve to contain the ice, while the spacebetween the partitions admits the air into and through the ice. Theconcave plates which form the lower portion of the floor connect with'aside gutter,f, attheirlower ends, and thisside gutter is connected witha vertical spout, g, which leads down through the floor of the room. Theice rests upon the inverted or convex plates, so that the water whichresults from the melting of the ice is caught by the concave plates andconveyed to the gutter f, and through the gutter f and spout g to theoutside of the buildings.

' The air which enters the chamber can pass freely down through theice,.and through the spaces between the overlapped edgesof the platesinto the lower compartment, while the inclined slats whichform thevertical par,

titions both admit the air into the body of the ice, and direct thewater of condensation into thetroughs or gutters.

Outside and on each side of the compartmentB I construct other uprightcom partments or passages, H I S, parallel and concentric with eachother. In constructing the partitions which form. these parallel andconcentricpassages, I leave a space at the top and bottom, alternately,of each partition, while the upper end of the extreme outside passageconnects with the space above the passages and with the ice-chamber.

Above the ice-chamber is a dooror hatchway, K, through which the ice islowered into the ice-chamber, and through which a fresh supply of aircan be introduced into the structure when desired. It will therefore beevident that the cold air in the central chamber will pass into theconcentric passages alternately above and below, while the warm air inthe outside passages will pass overhead to the ice-chamber, thusestablishing a uniform and natural circulation throughout the passages.It will also be evident that the farther the air progresses from thecentral chamber, its temperature will be correspondingly increased, sothat I obtain several distinct passages, each of which has a distincttemperature, the coldest point-being in the center, in the compartmentB.

In each partition I make a doorway, and close it with adoor, M, so thatthe opening ot'adoor, wh en a person enters the refrigerator structure,will not admit a rush of outside air to disturb the relative temperaturin the passages; but the air in the extreme outside passage, being thenearest to the temperature of the outside atmosphere, will be butslightly affected by the inrush of air when the outside dooris opened,it" the other doors are closed, and so from one passage to the other thesuccessive opening of the doors will not affect the process ofatmospheric circulation. I

Another advantage which I obtain bythis concentric arrangement ofair-passages, by which I produce a continuous amount of air, and theconsequent varieties of temperature, is, that [can suspend fruits, 850.,in the passages, and thus accommodate them to their most naturaltemperature.

I have discovered that certain fruits, such as oranges and lemons, willnot keep whenexposed to too low a temperature. 7 I therefore am able tocombine. in the single structure the elements of a refrigerating processadapted to all varieties and kinds of perishable articles.

P represents a grate, which I can apply underneath either of thecompartments, below which the air current will pass, and upon which Iplace such articles as cannot be easily suspended in the passage-ways.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

I 1. The refrigerating-chamber B, having the ice-chamber above it, andsurrounded by two or more concentric parallel passages, H I S, whichconnect With each other alternately above and below, and the extremeouter one of which connects with the ice-chamber and central compartmentby an overhead passage, whereby I am able to establish an automatic andnatural circulation of atmosphere, and provide separate compartments andpassages, each of which has a separate and distinct temperature,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A refrigerator provided with an icechamber, separated from therefrigeratingchamber by a partition made of alternate concave and convexplates, arranged to overlap each other and form air-passages betweentheir overlapped edges, and having the ice-chamber separated into two ormore compartments by double walls E, which are constructed of slatsplaced angular-1y one above another, so as to admit air into and throughthe body of ice, and thence through the floor in therefrigerating-chamber below, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

3. In arefrigerator constructed as described, the compartments orpassages H I S, parallel and concentric with each other, and providedwith the doors M in each partition, substantially as and for the purposeset forth,

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JOHN W. STEWART.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. STRONG, OLWYN T. STACY.

